The Fulton County District Attorney was the highest-paid municipal employee in the Mohawk Valley during the state’s 2019 fiscal year, according to the latest edition of “What They Make,” the Empire Center’s annual report summarizing total local government pay.

Chad W. Brown, the district attorney for Fulton County, was paid $197,600 during the 12-month period ending March 31, the Empire Center analysis found. The five highest-paid employees in the Mohawk Valley were also county district attorneys.

Other data highlights for local government employees in the Mohawk Valley, which includes Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida and Schoharie counties:

  • The City of Utica’s 170 police department employees topped the average pay for police departments in the region, collecting $85,341 on average.
  • The highest-paid police department in the Mohawk Valley was the City of Utica’s fire department, where employees made an average of $78,879.
  • The top paid fire department in the region was in the City of Little Falls, where fire department employees averaged $50,279.

The names, employers, system and pay of the 10 highest-paid local government employees in the region are listed below:

screen-shot-2019-08-20-at-12-12-25-pm-6440171

The amounts listed in the report do not include fringe benefits such as health insurance or pension contributions, which can add more than 35 percent to the cost for taxpayers.

Click here to read the full report.

The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.

 

You may also like

Switching to Electric Home Heating Could Add Thousands to Energy Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ALBANY, N.Y. that heating an average home from October to March would cost approximately $790 with natural gas, compared with $1,100 with a heat pump and $3,300 with electr Read More

Poll: 64% of New Yorkers Back Eliminating the State Income Tax; 67% Say State Taxes Aren’t Delivering

Dissatisfaction spans party and regional lines as broad majorities rally behind sweeping tax reform FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ALBANY, N.Y. - New Yorkers are delivering a blunt assessment of the state’s tax system: 67% say they ar Read More

SUNY Research Foundation Payroll Tops $400 Million

Payroll records for 8,401 employees of the Research Foundation for the State University of New York (RF SUNY) for fiscal year 2026 are , the Empire Center's government transparency website. The Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit educational co Read More

Newly Retired NYC Firefighters Average Over $177k In Pensions

New York City firefighters and fire officers retiring last year after full careers were entitled to average annual pension benefits of $177,016, according to , the Empire Center's government transparency website. Among the 499 new retirees with at leas Read More

New York Annual Household Electricity Costs Rise $270

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s average residential electricity price reached 29.90 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in July 2026, the fifth highest in the nation and 63.3 percent Read More

Taxes, the Cost of Living, and Feeling Ignored: Why New Yorkers Are Thinking of Leaving

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. - New Yorkers across the political spectrum are considering leaving the state. A new finds that Republicans and independent voters most often cite taxes as the reason, while Dem Read More

Albany Steers Nearly $100 Million in 2026 Pork Barrel Spending

Albany steered $97.2 million to 206 local projects during the first half of 2026 in the newest batch of state discretionary grants, according to. The new tranche is the latest addition to the pork-barrel grant database the Empire Center h Read More

New York’s Electricity Prices Fifth Highest in the Country

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. — Empire Center’s shows New York households paid the fifth‑highest residential electricity prices in the country in June 2026, trailing only Hawaii, California Read More